BATON ROUGE -- The LSU track and field teams return home after a pair of outstanding performances in New Mexico this past weekend to host the LSU Combined Events and the Bayou Bengal Invitational beginning Thursday at the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse.
The LSU Combined Events, which includes competition in the women's pentathlon and men's heptathlon, is scheduled for Thursday and Friday beginning at 3:30 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively. The Bayou Bengal Invitational is slated to begin Friday at 3 p.m. with the field events followed by the meet's first track events at 6 p.m.
"This is definitely a meet where many of our athletes will have the opportunity to take another step in their progression this season," said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. "What we're doing until we leave for New York next week is all about preparing our athletes for another banked track where there's going to be good competition."
This week is important for LSU's multi-event athletes as it is their first of two opportunities to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships. Senior Shaunette Davidson will represent the Lady Tigers in the pentathlon, while junior Gavin Fleming and freshman Eric Radecker are set to compete in the heptathlon on the men's side.
Davidson, a former National Junior College Athletic Association national champion in the pentathlon during the indoor season in 2005, will be making her first appearance in the event as a Lady Tiger as she focused on the high jump a season ago.
Fleming is scheduled to make his first appearance in the heptathlon in nearly two years as he is the former school record holder in the event after totaling 5,077 points in a sixth-place finish at the SEC Indoor Championships in 2005. Radecker is slated to make his first career appearance in the event at the collegiate level.
"It's very important for us at the SEC level that we have some people that can get in and possibly score for us at the SEC meet," Shaver said. "There's always that chance that a person like Shaunette Davidson or one of the men can actually qualify to go to the NCAA meet either here or at the SEC meet, and that would be a tremendous boost for either of the two teams."
Shaver also said that the Bayou Bengal Invitational offers LSU's field event athletes the opportunity to take the next step in their attempt to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., in March.
The Tigers will be well-represented in the long jump as sophomore Jeremy Hicks and freshman Will Coppage are scheduled to compete for the third straight meet. Hicks is fresh off of a runner-up finish in the event at the Modrall Sperling Lobo Invitational this past weekend where he posted a NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 24-9 ¼ on Friday.
Sophomore Phillip Malcolm will lead the Tigers' effort in the high jump after opening the season at the Purple Tiger Classic two weeks ago with an indoor personal best and the 10th best indoor mark in school history at 6-10 ¾. Freshman Reggie Haslom will be appearing in the triple jump for the first time in his LSU career.
Sophomore All-American Andrea Linton will lead the Lady Tigers' effort in the field events as she looks for her second triple jump title of the season. Linton is ranked No. 7 nationally in the event in the latest Trackwire Dandy Dozen released on Tuesday.
Freshman Katelyn Rodrigue is looking to set an indoor school record in the pole vault for the third straight meet as she won the event title at the Lobo Invitational with an indoor personal best effort of 12-5 ½. Rodrigue set the previous indoor school record at the Purple Tiger Classic on Jan. 13 with a vault of 11-11 ¾.
"This is as good a facility as there is for both our jumps group and our throws group to be able to perform and get something done, and I'm sure the competition will be good for them this week," Shaver said. "Hopefully, they'll be able to start ironing out some of the kinks in those technical events at this meet and then move on to New York and continue to improve."
A quartet of nationally-ranked Lady Tigers will highlight the running events at the Bayou Bengal Invitational led by junior All-American and fifth-ranked 60-meter hurdler Jessica Ohanaja, who is looking for her third straight title in the event this season. Ohanaja joins sixth-ranked Nickiesha Wilson and eighth-ranked Angel Boyd in the 60-meter hurdles.
Freshman sprint sensation Samantha Henry enters the meet as the favorite in the women's 60-meter dash as she is ranked No. 8 in the event in the latest Trackwire Dandy Dozen. Henry clocked back-to-back NCAA provisional qualifying times to take second place in the 60 meters at the Lobo Invitational.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers follow this week's action with back-to-back road trips to New York for the prestigious New Balance Collegiate Invitational at the Armory Track & Field Center on Feb. 2-3 and to Fayetteville, Ark., to compete in the Tyson Invitational at the Randall Tyson Track Complex on Feb. 9-10.